Tetons Yellowstone Glacier To/from Sf Bay Area....suggestions?

[AlCat]

Hi, all. I’m looking for trip planning advice.

June 21 or so, 2020 we will drive from San Francisco to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier. I'd love to hear suggestions, especially for campsites and driving routes. We plan to stay 5 or so nights in each park (and could be convinced to stay longer!)

Rough schedule

Days 1-3 San Francisco to Tetons (route? stops?)
Days 4-9 Tetons
Days 10-15 Yellowstone
Days 16-21 Glacier
Days 22-28 Return toSF (or add extra days above)

I am looking ideas for any part of the trip. If you had this much time to spend, how would you spend it?

We are more interested in hiking and wildlife than we are in cities, on this trip at least.
Food recommendations are welcomed, as are all cultural recommendations.

We are also interested in river/lake trips, in addition to kayaking Yellowstone and Jackson Lakes, and floating the Snake through Grand Tetons NP. We considered a river trip out of Vernal, Utah, but that may be too far from our path of travel.

 

[Warren Mary Ellen]

Tetons, we stayed in Colter Bay. Large campground. When I go back I’ll will stay in one of the smaller ones. You’ll need to get on the trails to get away from the crowd. Get supplies in Jackson before moving up to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone- Tower Falls Campground is one of our favorites. You will need to be there early to get a spot there. We got there at 7:00 am and we were 3rd in line. It is near the Lamar Valley which is great for wildlife viewing. Wherever you stay, plan out laundry and showers as some of the campgrounds don’t have them. Hikes - Mount Washburn. Haydn Valley is nice too. Old Faithful will be crowded, go early in the morning or it is crazy.

Glacier- We stayed one night in St Mary’s and then got up early so we could grab a spot at Many Glacier. Both are nice, the second one is awesome. Unfortunately, we didn’t to hike much as we were thrown from horses and our injuries kept off of the trails. If you stay on the east side, go to Museum of Plains Indian in Browning, MT.

If you look at the campgrounds section, I reviewed all the ones we stayed in.

 

[Tour 931]

If you swing by the Seattle area on the way back please stop and visit me for a day or two. I know of lots of hikes in the Cascades.

I can do easy to extreme so anything between two and twenty miles is fine with me.

 

[gregangsten]

OK, here are a couple suggestions for unusual "roadside attractions." Plan a route through Craters of the Moon, a very interesting volcanic area with some nice little hikes through caves. That whole area of Idaho is very volcanic. Scratch the ground a bit and you hit lava rock.

On the way there, go through a stretch of hwy. 75 and stop at the Shoshone ice caves. It can be a hot 100 up on the surface, but take a 10 minute walk down along lava tubes and find yourself in a cave with a frozen pond in it. I was told that years ago you could rent ice skates in the shop but now it's only jackets. A bizarre little spot. In the 1800's it was the only place you could buy a cold beer in the summer.